Philadelphia Will Hire 400 Teachers Next Fall

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1. Dave Greene says:

   February 2, 2015 at 5:20 pm

   As predicted, large and/or poor districts lay off more expensive teachers even by using the extreme measure of closing schools so that they can save $$$$$ by hiring new far less expensive teachers who will most likely not work long enough to vest in a pension either. Double win for the district. Triple loss for the kids.

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   • M says:

     February 2, 2015 at 9:33 pm

     Unfortunately teachers seem to be letting themselves be sold a bag of manure on pensions these days.

     Between the legalized pension theft of the governors, the precedents for shedding pensions in bankruptcy, the legislative move to let pensions that are in deep trouble cut benefits, the use of pension funds to pay exorbitant fees to hedge fund managers, and the bargaining of lower pay for the promise of pensions. If education weren’t cut to the bone we’d be smart to shed ourselves of pensions and just demand the money that we thought we were saving them by allowing them to not pay us our full value all at once.

     Given the times we live in – we are paying an awful lot for that promise. I’m not at all sure how long it can stay up with all of these competing interests chomping at pensions both the incoming money and the outgoing money keep up as the ones who will lose out ironically will be the ones who earned the money and accepted the trade off.

     Teachers may be better off (thought I get the “security” of tenure, pensions and such – believe me – I know) if we rid ourselves of these fallacies simply because it’s costing us so much to hold onto them – show us the money now – not later.

     If we want teachers, then pay them right, we’re not sticking around just because we’re losers which seems to be the predominant mindset since they seem to think we’ll endure any and all abuses and stick around.

     We’re here for the children, but we’re also not charity cases and we invest in our ability to provide that education.

     Districts are going to hurt when they realize that keeping good teachers is going to require more than nice words, particularly for the neediest students (as teachers will usually sacrifice anything for a better work environment which high poverty schools usually have trouble providing).

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2. Ms. Cartwheel Librarian says:

   February 2, 2015 at 5:30 pm

   “What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it feels about education.”
   Harold Howe former commisioner of education

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   • Duane Swacker says:

     February 3, 2015 at 6:54 am

     “The limit of my vocabulary is the limit of my world”. (Wiggtenstein)

     And where does one find all that vocabulary???

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     • SomeDAM Poet says:

       February 3, 2015 at 12:28 pm

       “The limit of my VAM is the limit of my world.” — Bill Gates

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     • Ms. Cartwheel Librarian says:

       February 3, 2015 at 6:52 pm

       Well (sarcasm alert) there’s always the Internet!

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3. Peter Smyth says:

   February 2, 2015 at 5:33 pm

   Libraries and librarians open a window to a vast world – especially in a time of such narrowed curriculum.

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4. Lisa Haver says:

   February 2, 2015 at 5:34 pm

   “Competitive”? We are going to compete with all of the other districts in the tri-state area which have higher salary and better benefits, where they pay for step raises we no longer pay for, where they reimburse tuition for advanced degrees which we never have, and we are going to continue to threaten union members with an attack on collective bargaining rights–that’s competitive?

   Sounds great!!

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5. ira shor says:

   February 2, 2015 at 5:40 pm

   Depressing wages and salaries is a global strategy of this neoliberal age, underway for 40 years, now hollowing out whole school system staffs in major cities, unbelievable how far the private war on public education has come, more impt than ever for parents to refuse the tests and opt out our kids to stop this ugly invasion of the child snatchers.

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6. Lloyd Lofthouse says:

   February 2, 2015 at 5:40 pm

   If reformers are in charge of the hiring, the odds favor that they will hire TFA revolving door recruits.

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7. DEzerov says:

   February 2, 2015 at 5:49 pm

   Please compare to Indiana senate pro-temp’s comments about Glenda Ritz’s credentials: “She was a librarian, OK?” Beginning to see a pattern here?

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8. Laura Campbell says:

   February 2, 2015 at 7:26 pm

   TFA windfall. Pretty soon even they won’t have the recruits to fill the positions around the country.

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   • Lloyd Lofthouse says:

     February 2, 2015 at 9:12 pm

     Don’t count on it. TFA will start recruiting high school graduates who graduated with a 4.0 GPA or higher and they won’t even have to go to college.

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9. Gordon Wilder says:

   February 2, 2015 at 7:50 pm

   It figures: Penny wise and pound foolish.
   It also figures that the U. S. will pay a heavy price for this ignorance and/or stupidity.

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10. Cupcake says:

    February 2, 2015 at 9:18 pm

    I hope Jersey Jazzman reads these comments–I want to let him know Floyd Mike Miles’ consulting company “Focal Point” has shut down. We call it Fecal Point here in Dallas.

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11. bb says:

    February 2, 2015 at 10:35 pm

    Was thinking about applying but even if the pay is competitive, how stable is a district that just laid off so much staff in the past couple of years?
    And what’s the reason for not re-hiring staff that we’re laid off last year?

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    • vavrik2014 says:

      February 2, 2015 at 11:15 pm

      They are getting rid of qualified teachers to hire TFA or another alternative that is cheaper. I think they also do this so they get teachers who are not trained and won’t question what is going on. While working in Denver, I saw this chaos. Not a good place for kids or anyone who thinks learning could be fun. There is a lot of conflict from the top down. They will tear it apart with data meetings and group planning so all are teaching the same and teaching the same thing. That way the teacher evaluation rubric will work for all. They are turning teaching into a robotic motion that can be looked at by anyone and judged. After they tore it apart, they started turning it into a business. Some teachers never got to talk to the principal. They went to their leader who would meet with the higher ups. There were a lot of mixed messages and then they put in the RIBs that happen every Feb. Teachers are laid off, but have to finish the year after a speech about how they should finish strong for the kids. Then they keep people with computers taking notes on what you do going in and out of your room. A few teachers were observed every day for 2 weeks and then they would rotate the teachers. DPS gives teachers a year to find a mutual consent position, but you can’t get an interview. Some teachers applied for over 150 jobs in the district. Principals would go to other schools to observe teaching before they would hire you, if they would hire you. They hold a hiring fair that is only good for practicing for a real interview as they are just screenings you never hear back from and some of the schools there don’t end up hiring anyone anyway. Personally, I took my year and observed while I looked for different work.

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      • NJ Teacher says:

        February 3, 2015 at 5:53 am

        What kind of work are you doing now vavrik?

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      • Duane Swacker says:

        February 3, 2015 at 6:59 am

        “Some teachers never got to talk to the principal.”

        And they’re smarter for not having done that!

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12. Yvonne Siu-Runyan says:

    February 3, 2015 at 11:10 am

    ONLY 11 Librarians! How awful.

    Libraries matter. http://www.lrs.org/data-tools/school-libraries/impact-studies/

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